This week BYO heads south. Taking the Illawarra line down to Thirroul and Wollongong, we’ll show you how Sydney doesn’t have a monopoly when it comes to art and culture in NSW. If you’re thinking about exploring further afield over the long weekend, it’s worth stopping in at these galleries to see what artists, who are continuing their practice outside of the big smoke, are up to.

Aaron Fell-Fracasso – Methods

Playing with chance and intention, Fell-Fracasso has constructed monumental canvases that hint at the performative nature of the artistic process. Making apparent the sometimes serendipitous qualities of fine art, these works question the object of our focus; are we looking at the painting itself or the unintended associations that come from our interaction with the work?

These two talks at Wollongong Art Gallery represent the spectrum of creative practice in Steel City as part of the gallery’s fortieth birthday celebrations. On the one hand we have Cringila and Working Class High Art that charts the connection between Wollongong’s working class heritage and its support of the arts. The gallery, which grew out of the personal collection of Bronius (Bob) Sredersas, a Lithuanian migrant and steel worker, is returning to its roots. On the other hand, John McPhee will present the work of Eugene von Guerard, who painted the grand houses of 19th century sheep station, yet with a question of whether the landscape he depicted was instead apocalyptic.

Life Inside Life - Kassandra Bossell & Carol Hudson

Both beginning from an engagement with water, Hudson and Bossell use their divergent techniques to highlight the complex nature of this fundamental part of our ecosystem. Hudson works across drawing, ceramics and installations while Bossell mounts wall sculptures and suspended works. Both artists will question the impact that we have on other organisms through the use of visual metaphor.